Inflatable mattress



(No Model.)

J. W. HARDESTY. INFLATABLE MATTRESS.

No. 569,712. Patented 0st,. 20, 1896.

PATENT FFICE.

JAMES W. HARDESTY, OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

INFLATABLE MATTRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,712, dated October 20, 1896.

Application filed July 8, 1896. Serial No. 597,976. (No model.)

To a whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES W. HARDESTY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Montgomery, in the county of Montgomery and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Inflatable Mattresses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to inflatable mattresses; and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, as will be fully set forth hereinafter and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section through a mattress embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, partially broken away. Fig. 3 is a detail view of one corner thereof on an enlarged scale. Fig. l is a perspective view generally similar to Fig. 2, exceptvthat the bottom of the mattress is here shown uppermost instead of the top, as in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the bottom of the mattress, formed of a single strip or sheet of rubber or other suitable material, while the top 13 is preferably formed continuous with the sides (J C and ends D D. At regular intervals of a few inches rubber disks a a are stitched and cemented to both the top and bottom, on the inner surfaces thereof, said disks holding loops 1) c of cord, and the loops 1; of the disks which are secured to the top B being preferably much longer than the loops 0 of the disks secured to the bottom A, the said top and bottom loops being connected as the mattress is put together bymeans of malleable-metal S shaped links (I. This inequality in the length of the upper and lower series of loops is a matter of great convenien ce in the linking together of said loops as the work of constructing the mattress proceeds. This linking is done by hand, and the transverse rows are completed, successively, just after the side flanges of the upper portion are stitched to the bottom piece to a point beyond their transverse line, and hence the greater length of the upper loops affords more room for the hands and greater facility in this operation, the said links having been first secured to the shorter bottom loops.

In Fig. 4 is shown the outwardly-flanged edges of the sides and ends which are first stitched to the edges of the bottom piece A, and then the adjoining surfaces covered with rubber cement to make the device perfectly air-tight.

E represents the inflating-tube, secured to and sealed between the adjacent edges of one of the side and end pieces.

By this device when the same is inflated the mattress will everywhere be substantially level on both its upper and lower surfaces, as the linked loops prevent uneven inflation, such as results from the blowing up of aircushions and rubber bags of ordinary con struction, and as a further consequence of my improved construction the weight of a person lying on one part of the mattress will not cause the other part to swell or bulge up, and hence my device is greatly conducive to the comfort of the user, and well adapted for invalids, as well as for general use, as the strain is distributed over the entire mattress.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

In an inflatable mattress, the combination with the bottom piece formed of a single strip or sheet of rubber or analogous impervious flexible material, and the upper portion formed of a like piece of material with the sides and ends continuous therewith, and stitched and cemented to the bottom piece, series of rubber disks, stitched and cemented at regular intervals to the inner surfaces of both the bottom and upper portions,loops of cord secured to said disks, the upper series of said loops being much longer than the lower series, and malleable metallic S-shaped links connecting the upper and lower series of loops, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of W'isconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES W'. HARDESTY.

\Vitnesses:

H. G. Unnnnwoon, B. G. ROLOFF. 

